Mr & Mrs P visited Lake Como and were here for a total of 4 nights, then off to Venice for 4 nights and then the Orient Express from Venice into London……
Hi Rosa
You asked for the good, the bad and the ugly, so here it is. All your stuff falls under the good. Anything not so good, and there was very little of that, was down to our choice and/or inexperience. There was nothing really bad or ugly.
Travel: First, the overall organisation of travel arrangements was superb. Admittedly, it was an extremely early start and we may have been amongst the first passengers of the day to arrive at Luton Airport, but we’ve never had an easier check-in and boarding experience. Checking in on-line prior to arrival speeded things up no end (can’t imagine why so many people didn’t bother to do it) as did priority boarding, which also gave us a much better choice of seats. As for Easyjet versus Ryanair as choice of carrier – no contest.
The transfer to and from Milan Airport to the Relais was very smooth and efficient, with a modern Mercedes people carrier used for both legs. Neither driver was particularly communicative (admittedly the driver on the Relais/Milan leg spoke very little English) so we didn’t get to learn much about the area. In that respect, you might like to consider a suggestion that you use a driver local to Laglio – see below. The first driver was comparatively sedate, while the second was everything you expect from an Italian taxi driver! I actually quite enjoyed the experience, but Mrs P reserves judgement!
Finding the train from Milan to Venice was no problem. Booking us first class seats was very much appreciated.
So, on toVenice. I had taken the precaution of buying 72 hour Venice travel cards on-line, thinking that this would speed things up on arrival. With hindsight, I would not do this again. The saving is only 1.5 Euro on a cost of 32.5 Euro per ticket, and I had endless trouble finding an automatic ticket machine that was working, in order to convert the email voucher to actual tickets. The whole process took over an hour! In future, and while buying a travel pass is a good idea, I will go to an ACTV ticket office and buy one on arrival – this also gives you the opportunity to ask which is the best Vaporetto to take. Also, rather than tackle the scrum that is the Vaporetto stop outside the train station, it’s a better bet to turn right outside the station and walk across the bridge (Ponte di Calatrava) to the Vaporetto stop on Ple Roma. There is a ticket office there at which you can buy travel cards, and the stop is much quieter. The walk takes about 3 minutes.
What with then humping 3 suitcases on and off a crowded Vaporetto and over bridges at the San Marco/San Zaccaria stop, the end result was arriving at the hotel very hot and bothered! On the return journey, we took a water taxi. Best 80 Euro I’ve ever spent!
Accommodation: The Relais on Lake Como was just perfect, and the staff who ran it (Claudio, Katie and Frederica) couldn’t have been more helpful. We arrived just after10.30 am, to our third breakfast of the day, and immediately felt at home. My original impression was one of well preserved, but slightly faded, gentility, until Mrs P pointed out that it had taken a lot of money to get it looking like that! Overall, a place of style, comfort and charm. Mrs P particularly liked the profusion of lights on the trees at night, very romantic apparently. And the views……
I had thought that we were booked into a second floor suite but, in English speak, it turned out to be first floor. Do the Italians count the ground floor as the first floor, in the way the French do? No matter, the suite (No 2) was wonderful – bags of space, light and airy and comfortable. Nice touches were the bowls of nuts, savoury biscuits and fruit laid out for us, and the chilled bottle of prosecco.
Just one minor point – given the size of the suite, the bathroom (though well appointed) was a bit on the tight size and lacked a bath. An illuminated make-up mirror would have been a useful addition (according to Mrs P). We were aware of people walking about in the room upstairs – tiled floors, as suspected – but only rarely. It was not a problem.
Breakfast at the Relais was excellent – the running gag of the week being my battle with the hot water bath used to boil eggs. I managed never to get the same result twice running and spoiled more eggs that I ate, but the housekeeper (Katie) thought this was hilarious.
On the lake we visited Argegno, which seemed to me to be quite a nice place to stay if you were looking for a less expensive place than the Relais – not too big or touristy. We’ll probably ask you to look into that for us. Also Tremezzo (Villa Carlotta was beautiful) and Bellagio. I think your advice about not staying in Bellagio was good for us. Nice place but a bit touristy and in your face. Good for a day trip, though. We left places like Menaggio and Cadenabbia till next time.
We explored Laglio on our last day and thought it was a charming little place. The highlight for me was getting a round of applause from the customers in the post office when I explained to the lady behind the counter, in halting Italian, that I was learning Italian and would she correct me if I got the request for 4 stamps for postcards to England wrong.
While at the Relais, we used a local taxi firm to and from the pontile at Argengo and for evening runs to restaurants. The owner and driver, Stefano Portanti, spoke excellent English and was very helpful and knowledgeable about local issues. Our first trip with him was booked by the Relais, but we organised all other trips direct – usually the evening before – specifying pick up and return times so that no-one was kept hanging about. Doing this meant that he was prepared to give us special rates – turning a 40 Euro round trip into a 30 Euro one. Stefano does airport runs for local businesses and I’m sure would be interested in talking to you about picking up your clients in future – unless, of course, you are already tied into a contract with the firm that picked us up. Incidentally, he lives just across the road from George Clooney!!!
After the Relais, the Casa Nicolo had a lot to live up to and so any attempt at comparison is unfair. We have no experience of hotels inVenice and so have no yardstick to go by but, although perfectly comfortable, the room was on the small side and did not have a lot of wardrobe and drawer space. In fact, it’s difficult to see how it justifies its description of a junior suite. It did, though, have two redeeming features – a good bathroom (with a bath!) and a small terrace overlooking a canal and a row of small shops – including a bar and an excellent gelataria. Mrs P loved the terrace – great for people watching while having breakfast, ice cream, prosecco etc. We must be in at least two dozen photographs taken by people passing by – the privileged English lording it over the plebs!
One small issue here was that on day 4 of our stay, with the temperature hitting the high 80s, the drains began to smell. This was dealt with quickly by the hotel staff but, by the next morning, the effectiveness of the bleach/deodorant/drain cleaner was beginning to wear off. This might have been a bit more problematical if our stay had been a bit longer.
The area round the hotel – it’s sandwiched between San Marco and Castello districts, with Canareggio to the north – offered interesting contrasts of quiet piazzas (piazzi?) and canals, with more touristy things – perfect for us because we’re more interested in absorbing the feel of a place than soaking ourselves in “culture”.
We had planned three activities whilst inVenice. First, the photography tour, which turned out to be extremely interesting and informative. The lady who conducted the tour gave lessons in how to get the best out of your camera and get more atmosphere into the picture, and gave us a good history lesson on the parts of Venice we visited. Second, La Fenice – a fabulous experience which has encouraged Mrs P to visit the opera again (this was her first). And one of the highlights of the whole trip, a visit to Burano. This is a magical place which, according to Mrs P, looks as though someone has chucked a handful of Smarties onto the ground and they grew into houses. It also provided us with one of the best meals of the trip, of which more later.
We will be talking to you about Burano again – we’d like to spend a holiday there.
Eating Out: At Lake Como, we visited 4 restaurants. On our first night we went to the hotel next door and also had lunch by the pool there twice. Good food, good service, average prices for the area. Just what we needed after a very long day (03.15 start from home). Not much atmosphere, though. (Mrs. P disagrees, down to people in restaurant – it was not quite warm enough for the terrace – rather than the ambience they were trying to create).
Day 2 we went to the Locanda you suggested. Great place, great atmosphere, great food (but you had to like meat, no fish on the menu), not expensive by local standards, and a caricature of a Senora overseeing everything – stern at first, but very helpful once I’d done the “I’m learning Italian, please help me” thing. It might have helped that the taxi driver is a friend of the owner. We’d definitely go again.
Day 3 was the Locanda del Cantiere, a 5 minute walk down the road. Least said, soonest mended, I think. We’d have done better going to the Osteria next door.
Day 4 was the Hotel Imperialina which you recommended and booked for us. This was definitely the best restaurant of the whole trip. Fabulous setting, terrific food, impeccable service and, although slightly more expensive than the others, definitely the best value. It helped that our fellow diners included 3 tables of Italians celebrating the 30th anniversary of the company they worked for. They were “organised” by a lady who, despite our assurances that everything was finer, kept apologising for their high spirits. In the end, we felt included in their celebrations. I could mention lots of other amusing snippets, like the synchronised removal of cloches and the on/off of the patio heaters, but I’d be here all day.
Over the years we’ve eaten in all sorts of places and keep a running list of the Top 10 best restaurant experiences – based subjectively on a collection of criteria like food, service, location, atmosphere, cost – and the Imperialina walked straight into the Top 3.
Venice was more of a mixed bag. I am a serious sea food fan, so imagine my delight when we found that Da Remigio was literally a 90 second walk from the hotel. As we walked in I though “I’m really going to enjoy this” – the place was packed and there was a terrific buzz. Unfortunately, the enjoyment ended there. While we couldn’t fault the food, the service was brusque to the point of rudeness (when I asked for 2 glasses of white wine, the capocameriere plonked a bottle on the table and said “I give you a bottle of house wine and you pay for what you drink”) and generally the staff behaved as though they didn’t care whether we were there or not. We took the recommended menu of the day, which was unpriced on the menu and turned out to be much more expensive than Imperialina. Da Remigio goes straight into our bottom 3!
Day 2 we went to the Osteria ae Spezie (Salizzada S. Antonio, Castello 3479/80) owned by a friend of the concierge at the hotel. Nothing spectacular in the way of location, but extremely good food, attentive service (the learning Italian line worked again) and reasonably priced by Venetian standards. I would recommend this to anyone. I left my glasses behind and, the next day, the waiter recognised us and chased us down the street, frantically waving them in the air!
Day 3 was a real gem. First, we discovered Burano. Second was lunch at Di Romano. This is a wonderful building in the middle of the main street, with a large internal dining room and a large terrace fronting the street. As a restaurant it has an interesting past, being a meeting point for artists who “donated” pictures that festoon the walls “fitti a muri” and has been frequented by people like the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen of Holland (whether they went together was not clear!) We were sat amongst groups of locals but were still made to feel welcome and included. Lunch was a seafood feast. Service was brilliant. Mrs P had lots of questions about the place, which pleased the waiter no end, so much so that at the end of the meal he presented her with cards and pamphlets giving information about the place, and a book (almost an A – Z) of famous restaurants inItaly. I suspect a grand tour may be being planned. Another top 10 entry.
Day 4 we were not so lucky. Because we were going to La Fenice in the evening we decided on a substantial lunch and picked what we thought would be a typical neighbourhood trattoria in San Polo, on the basis that it seemed to have lots of Italians known to the staff. The result was average food sloppily served and, unusually for me, no tip.
After that, it was the Orient Express all the way. By the time we got back toVictoria we were, quite literally, stuffed. Anyone whose eaten brunch at 10.30 consisting of scrambled egg and smoked salmon, followed by broiled lobster and parmentiere potatoes, then caramelised apple tart will know what I mean. Mrs P has dreamed of a trip on the Orient Express ever since I’ve known her. To try and describe it further would take far too long. Let’s just say that it surpassed our expectations by a long way.
So that’s it. To say we were so pleased with the whole thing seems a bit of an understatement. It really was the holiday of a lifetime. Thank you so much for your efforts, organisation, patience and interest. The only thing you couldn’t control was the weather, and that was perfect too.
